Recently while reading Locus magazine I saw Cory Doctorow’s brilliant article on reproduction in the digital era.
When dealing with the internet he says we have to think about reproduction from a dandelions perspective. Produce seed (content) and disperse it to the world. It will float out and reach a wide variety of areas, often areas we had not thought of. Sometimes the seeds will fail, sometimes the seeds will reach fertile soil and the ideas will spread, we shouldn’t really worry too much.
Being mammals, he says, we naturally worry about everything we produce, be it offspring or artistic work. If someone distributes our work or uses it we shouldn’t jump up and down, (If they give the author credit that is) there is a lot of good that can come from our work being seen by a wider audience…
So if you are thinking of becoming more dandelion-like here are Mr Doctorow’s points to take into consideration.
- “Your work needs to be easily copied, to anywhere whence it might find its way into the right hands. That means that the nimble text-file, HTML file, and PDF (the preferred triumvirate of formats) should be distributed without formality”
- “Once your work gets into the right hands, there needs to be an easy way to consummate the relationship”
Personally I love this way of thinking and I shall try to be more like a dandelion when it comes to my work…
0 Responses to “Be like a Dandelion…”